| Shaikh Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak | | Print | |
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Shaikh Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak was the author of the Akbarnama, the history of Akbar's reign in three volumes. The third volume is famous as the Ain-i-Akbari. He occupied the prestigious and responsible position in the court as the vizier of the Emperor Akbar. He translated the Bible into Persian. He was the brother of Faizi, the poet laureate in the court of Emperor Akbar. Early days of Abu al Fazl’s LifeSince Abu al Fazl was barely a little over one year and he had the unusual gift of fluent speech and at the age of five he developed a great stock of information and could both read and write very well. At the age of seven he became the treasurer of his father's stores of knowledge and a trusty keeper of the jewels of hidden meaning and guarded the treasure. He was disinclined to conventional learning and the ordinary courses of instruction. Usually he could not understand them. Abu al Fazl’s father in his way taught him a little of every branch of science, and although his intelligence grew, he gained no deep impressions from the school of learning. The he came into contact with a learned man and then began his quest for knowledge without tiredness. For ten years longer he made no distinction between night and day, teaching and learning, and recognized no difference between satiety and hunger, nor discriminated between privacy and society, nor did he have the power to dissever pain from pleasure. His love of study was like that. Once in the early part of his career they brought the gloss of Khwajah Abu'l Qasim, on the Mutawwal. All that he had stated before learned doctors and divines of which some of his friends had taken notes, was there found, and those present were astounded and withdrew their dissent, and began to regard Abu al Fazl with other eyes and to raise the wicket of misunderstanding and to open the gate of comprehension. Abu'l-Fazl's role in Akbar's courtAbu al Fazl was the vizier of the Emperor Akbar, that is, he was the high-ranking political and sometimes religious advisor or minister. He acted as a "burden-bearer" or "helper" and was a close confident of the Emperor. He wrote the books on Akbar’s reign and was also instrumental in Akbar’s decision making on several subjects including religious tolerance. Abu'l-Fazl 's familyAbu al Fazl was born on January 14, 1551 A.D. He was the fifth descendant of Shaikh Musa who lived in Rel in Siwistan (Sindh). His grandfather, Shaikh Khizr settled at Nagaur, where his father Shaikh Mubarak was born. Initially, Shaikh Mubarak studied in Nagaur under Khwaja Ahrar. Later he went to Ahmedabad and studied under Shaikh Abu al Fazl, Shaikh Umar and Shaikh Yusuf. Finally, he settled in Agra, and he had two sons, poet Abu al Faizi and Abu al Faz. Shaikh Mubarak came to Akbar's court in 1575 A.D and was influential in Akbar's religious views becoming more liberal into the 1580s and 1590s. He also led the Mughal imperial army in its wars in the Deccan. Abu al Fazl’s elder brother Abu al Faizi was also one of the famous nine gems (Navaratnas) of Akbar’s court. He constructed many beautiful poems. Abu'l Fazl's son Shaikh Abdur Rahman Afzal Khan went on to become the governor of Bihar under Emperor Jahangir. Abd-us-samad, son of Afzal Muhammad, claims that he was Abu'l Fazl's sister's son as well as his son-in-law. Last Days of Abu al Fazl’s lifeJahangir in his quest to throne during the last years of Akbar, rebelled. And he declared himself as Emperor at Allahabad in 1600 A.D. He planned and got Abul Fazal killed near Narwar in 1602 A.D. Bir Singh, a Hindu ruler of a province was promised favors if he killed Abul Fazal. Bir Singh’s troops attacked the convoy of Abul Fazal and Abul Fazal was beheaded. His head was sent to Jahangir at Allahabad. Abul Fazal was against Jahangir becoming the ruler after Emperor Akbar and hence Jahangir planned his killing. Jahangir rewarded Bir Singh and made him the commander of 3000 Horse cavalry. Why was Abu al Fazl Popular?Abu al Fazl was popular for his studious methods and knowledge. In his early days of study, the gloss of Isfahani more than half of which had been eaten by white ants came under his observation. He removed the parts that had been eaten and joined blank paper to the rest. In the early hours of morning, he discovered the beginnings and endings of each fragment and penned a draft text which he transcribed on the paper. And when the entire work was discovered, except in two or three places there were differences of words but other than that all was similar. All were puzzled and got awed. Abu al Fazl is famous for his literary work, 'The Akbarnama', which is a document of history of Akbar’s reign and his ancestors and it contains three volumes. It covers Akbar’s reign up to the 46th year (1602 A.D) of his rule, and an administrative report of Akbar’s empire, the Ain-i-Akbari, which itself is in three volumes. The third volume of Ain-i-Akbari provides information on the ancestry and life of the author. Abu'l-Fazl's palace at Fatehpur SikriThe House of Abu al Fazal in Fatehpur Sikri, is a single-storeyed building and it is near the northern wall of the Jami Masjid. It was built using red sandstone; the Mughal style building has a tibara dalan or verandah, with three openings in the front, towards north. Two pairs of beautifully carved pillars are there in the verandah. The roof of the verandah is supported on beautiful brackets at the top of the pillarsand there two small rooms attached to the verandah. The shallow concave grooves on the shaft of a column are supporting the lintels of the roof look quite impressive. The two small chambers on either side of the verandah lead directly on to the terrace of the building. The central room of the building is large and has three flat topped doors. On its either side, there are two rooms with three engrailed arched entrances. One can reach the rooms on the upper storey using the staircase. There is a stairway from the upper storey that leads to the baths and toilets on the southwestern side. This article is contributed by Alhad
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